This chapter, Romans 14, assumes that you would know people at church well enough to know what's going on in their life, that you might even have your own opinion about what's going on in their life. And so, if you're living in an isolated way where you just come to the service, but you're not getting to know the other people, you really need to rethink how you're coming to church. And, because this is going to make it clear the kind of way that we're supposed to be to one another, this whole chapter is about how people at church judge one another and how we're not supposed to judge one another. But that assumes a level of interaction that a lot of people who go to church don't even get to that level of interaction.
So, this church that you're a part of, we're about to go through a massive transition. There are some people who are going to leave here and go to another city and be a church there. And some of these people, they're people who are making things happen here in Huntington Beach. And you're going to come on Saturday night, there's going to be less people here, and some of the people who are really making things happen are not going to be here anymore. And so, when you go to Long Beach, or when you stay here, are you going to be ready to pursue other people and get in there with people and be the church with them? That's what this chapter is going to prepare us to do. So out of respect for God's Word, I want to invite everybody to stand for the public reading of Scripture. And I want to encourage you to give this your full and undivided attention, because this is the Word of God. Romans 14:1-12.
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead and have your seat. I would say, for a long time in my life, I thought Romans 14 was about gray areas. But I want to draw to your attention that the theme, at least a major theme, of this chapter is passing judgment, passing judgment on other people who are the church of Jesus, is what this chapter is telling us not to do. And if once you see it, you can't unsee that theme in this chapter. Look at verse 3 with me. Verse 3 says, you “can't despise the one who abstains and let not the one who abstains pass judgment.” So, if you got it there on the handout, you might want to underline “pass judgment” in verse 3. In fact, in verse 4, the question just comes out like this. Here's the question for you tonight. “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?” Who are you to judge somebody else's preferences or opinions or the way that they're going about their business? So, this idea, the question that we're all going to be asked is, why are you one of those judgy church people?
We know that many people don't want anything to do with church because they're afraid of being judged by people at church. You want to know why? Know why so many people think that because they went to church and somebody judged them, that's why they think that about church. I've been a part of church my entire life. I'm a child of the Jesus Movement. I was born and bred on the Bible. I've been going to church for my entire life. There are so many judgmental people at church. And who are you to pass judgment? Look down at verse 10. We were asked this question again. If you come back next week, where it's going to take us two weeks to get through these twelve verses, come back next week, we'll have the same question for you. Served up twice because it's so nice. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Why are you doing that? In fact, let's keep going through the chapter. Look down at verse 13. We'll get to this after Thanksgiving. “Therefore, let us not pass judgment on one another any longer.” So, we're going to get asked the question, why are you passing judgment? Why are you passing judgment? And then let's not be passing judgment. In fact, look on down to verse 22 as we get towards the end of the chapter, “Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself.” I’ve got to stop passing judgment on other people, and I’ve got to realize, how am I doing? See, I have to have my own relationship with God. I'm a servant. He's my master. God's going to judge me according to what I have done. He's going to say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” And too many of us are saying, what are the other servants doing? And we're not trying to just make sure we're doing “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
And, in fact, we're going to realize that not only should we stop judging what other people are doing, we might need to change what we're doing out of love for those other people. In fact, what we're going to learn as we go through this chapter is anything you're doing that's not for the Lord, that's not based on faith in the Lord, it's wrong no matter what you're doing. If you're not doing it out of faith, you shouldn't be doing it. So, this chapter is not just about some gray areas, and what should we think about. This chapter is fundamentally about how people at church treat one another, and this chapter is a call out to judgmental passing judgment on other people at church. This needs to stop with Romans 14.
So, look at with me here at verse 1. It says, “As for the one who is weak in faith.” All right, the one who is weak in faith is what this is saying? And go over to Romans, chapter 15, just to get the flip side of it in chapter 15, verse 1. It says, “We, who are strong, have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak.” So, it's going to break down into two kinds of people, weak in faith, strong in faith, and unfortunately, both of them can pass judgment on the other kind of person. Okay, now this idea of passing judgment has already been addressed way back in Romans chapter 2. So, before we keep going through Romans 14, let's just review something that we already learned back in Romans 2:1-5. This was over two years ago, on August 22, 2022. We did a sermon called “To the Judgy Church Person.” Anybody remember that? If you do, that's a great memory you've got because it was some time ago that we looked at Romans 2. Look with me at verse 1, “Therefore you have no excuse, oh man, everyone of you who judges, for in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself.” Because you judge, you practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. “Do you suppose, oh man, you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself that you will escape the judgment of God?” So, Romans 1 describes people who are not giving God glory, so God is giving them over to sin. He's giving them over to lust. He's giving them over to homosexuality. He's giving them over to a debased mind. It sounds like the history of America in our lifetime, and here we are judging all our fellow Americans.
And then in Romans, chapter 2, he's like, oh yeah, look at you judging them while you do the same things, you hypocrite. So, the point here in Romana2:1-5 was the point we tried to make. We want to have one less hypocrite in the world. And you can't maybe do something about all the hypocrites out there, but you can make sure you're not one of them. And so, hey, let's all look to ourselves. Are we doing the evil things that we would say are wrong in other people, but yet we do them ourselves? So, that was the idea of this hypocritical kind of judgment, where you here are pointing your finger at other people and you're guilty of the same sins.
Now go back to Romans 14, because that's not really the context of what we're talking about. Now by this point in the book of Romans, notice what says here in verse 1. We're talking about maybe sins that people are doing, because if your brother is in sin, according to Matthew 18:15, you go and you seek to win your brother. According to Galatians 6:1, if you see someone who's in sin, you are spiritual. You are walking in the Spirit. You seek to restore them, and you look to yourself lest you also be tempted. You humble yourself, make sure you're not a hypocrite. And then you would go try to win your brother and say, brother, why are you doing this sin? Let's repent. Let's turn to the Lord. Well, here, notice what it says in verse 1, “As for the one who is weak in faith,” so this person is your brother or sister in Christ. They have faith in the Lord Jesus, but they're weak in the faith. Welcome him, but then look what it says here, everybody, “but not to quarrel over” what? Opinions. Okay, so here we are. We're supposed to welcome this person. I'm not sure if they're strong in their faith, they might be weak in their faith. What should I do? Should I look down on them? Should I despise them? Should I pass judgment on them? No, I should welcome them. And then when I welcome them, I don't think, great. Now I can talk them into homeschooling their kids. No, I don't think, oh, great, now I can make sure they get their baby on the same sleep schedule my baby's on. See, oh, great, now I can make sure they agree with me on politics, or now I can make sure that they have the same view on alcohol that I do. See, no. Now it's saying, hey, welcome them, but don't make it about your opinions. See your preferences. The way that you and your household do things may not be the same that another household does things, and you don't need to get into quarreling about that. You don't need to get into passing judgment about that.
So, let me just build a little chart that you've got there on your handout. Let's start with the “WEAK”. Okay, let's try to figure out who the weak people are here in the context of Romans 14. And then on the other side, we'll try to figure out who the “STRONG” people are here in the context of Romans 14. So, we've got the WEAK on the left and the STRONG on the right. And you can see in verse 2, one person believes he may eat anything. And then it says, “The weak person eats only vegetables.” So, let's get that down on the WEAK side: The weak “Eats only vegetables.” Now, this is not a comment necessarily about people's diet, all right. This is not saying that if you ate meat, you'd be stronger physically. That's not the point here. That the reasons that people wouldn't eat meat at this time would have been perhaps because of the Jewish Law of Moses. That would have been a reason. So, some of the commentators, if you read about Romans 14, there's going to be a lot of talk about, who are we talking about Jews here? Are we talking about Gentiles? But we know at the time of the book of Acts, as the gospel is going not just from the Jews, but to the Gentiles. Also, there was a lot of talk about, do we keep the Jewish law, or do we not need to keep some of the Jewish law? And so maybe some people thought they couldn't eat certain foods that are considered unclean according to the law of Moses. And so maybe that's why they weren't eating because they're still trying to follow the old covenant laws.
A cross reference you could write down next to this is 1 Corinthians 8. And in 1 Corinthians 8, the issue about the meat that is being eaten is it's been sacrificed to idols. And some people, they don't feel comfortable eating meat that has been used in the worship of a false god, of an idol. So, I'm not going to eat the meat because it was sacrificed to that idol. So, these would have been real reasons that people are like, I'm not sure about eating the meat, maybe because of the Jewish laws. Maybe, remember even Daniel, chapter 1, he didn't eat the meat in the king's palace; he only ate vegetables, and God really blessed him. So maybe there's some people and they don't quite understand the new covenant that we have in Christ. They don't maybe fully see what's going on, and they're still hanging on to some of these ideas about unclean foods, or their conscience feels compromised about eating meat that’s sacrificed to idols, and so they don't eat the meat. Okay, so that's described as weak here in Romans 14, because Paul's very clear that, hey, he's not bound to keep the law, that's a major theme in Paul's writings. He's also very clear that, hey, there's no such thing really as idols. There's no false gods actually out there. And so, if it was sacrificed to idols, and you can get it for a sale at Costco, I would go ahead and get that meat. You know what I mean. So, Paul's not really hindered by these things, but there are other people who are, and he sees them as weak.
Now let's just jump down, because it's all one thought here, but it's going to take us four times to unpack it. But go down to verse 15. Look at what it says here. Just give you a preview of where we're going to get. Okay? “for if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in,” what does it say there, everybody? Love what you eat. Look at this. This is a powerful phrase that you really need to think about. “By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.” Wow. So, the strong person, they understand, I don't need to worry about unclean and unclean foods anymore. I don't need to worry about that meat that's been sacrificed to idols. They're strong in their faith. They're not worried about these things. But really, if you are strong, what would you do is you would consider the weaker person. You wouldn't be like, hey, you, you weak, weak brother over there. Why don't you just realize we don't need to worry about that and get your conscience together. That's not how the strong person would go about it. The strong person, out of love for the weak person, if they're concerned about eating meat, decides not to eat meat himself. That's the level of love that we're supposed to have for one another. That I would change what I'm doing because I care more about you and how you're going to see it, than doing it myself.
So, let's get that down here on the STRONG side. The strong side “Will not eat meat or drink wine out of love.” Okay, so the strong person, they understand it's not about eating the meat or not eating the meat, but, but they will change what they're doing out of a loving consideration of their weaker brother or sister. Okay, so that's the dynamic that we're getting into here. Now there's another way that it comes up. Look at verse 5. So, we saw there's the person who believes he can eat anything, the weak person is only eating vegetables. And the one who eats might despise the one who abstains and the one who doesn't eat meat, they might pass judgment on the one who does eat meat. So, you’ve got a weaker person who's like, I don't think we should eat that meat, and then they're over here passing judgment on the person who is eating the meat. That's the problem. That's the question. Why are you judging other people for what they're doing? You think you shouldn't do it? Fine. Why are you judging other people about it? That's the issue. Now look down at verse 5. It brings up a second example that must have been applicable to the saints in Rome. It must have been applicable at this time, “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike.” Okay, so right away, what comes to your mind? What kind of days might they have that are seen a little differently? Well, coming out of the Jewish context, and there were some Jewish believers here in the church in Rome, and they had a day every seven days that they set apart as the Sabbath. And they had these new moon festivals. They had these feasts. Like God set up a whole calendar for the Jewish people. And if you ever study the feast and the Sabbath and the whole schedule that God gave for his people, God built plenty of rest, plenty of worship into the schedule. And so, some of the people, they might think, well, I'm going to keep the Sabbath still, or I'm going to keep doing this feast still, or I'm going to keep having these separate days that are holy days, days that are set apart for a specific purpose. And somebody's like, yeah, that's the old covenant, the Law of Moses. That's for the people of Israel. I'm not doing any of that, I'm living for Jesus 24/7; every day is a Jesus day in my mind. Okay, so some people are thinking, we’ve got to keep these days. Some people are like, I'm living for Jesus every day. That's another thing. People could start to pass judgment on each other over that's another example.
So, let's get that down. The WEAK, they've got: “Certain days.” They've got specific days, they've got the Sabbath, they've got the festival days. Okay? I mean, this is still going on today, not based on the calendar that God gave in the Law of Moses. I heard somebody at the grocery store the other day being like, well, we don't celebrate Christmas, mom, so why do they have all this red and white stuff and green stuff around here? You know, I heard a kid saying that. I was like, oh, is someone going to pass judgment on someone right now, you know? And people are doing that all the time about all kinds of things. And see the strong, they're like, I'm living for the Lord every day. It doesn't matter what day it is, it's Jesus time. Let's go see. So, you have differences of thought about this here, represented n verse 5, and, yeah, whatever you're doing, you should do it, and you should make sure you're doing what you're doing out of faith. And you should make sure that whatever you're doing, you're doing it in honor of the Lord. See, that's really the whole idea here. Both sides, it should be for the Lord. That's what it should be like, whether you're not going to eat the meat, whether you're going to celebrate certain days. Well, if that's what you're doing, then do it for the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you're like, I'm fine eating the meat and I'm living for Jesus every day, then great. Do it for the Lord Jesus Christ. You just make sure in your own heart that you're serving your own master here and stop judging what other people are doing. That's Romans 14, and those were the issues they had at that time.
We’ve got plenty of issues, and we're going to keep talking about what the issues are we have in our time. But some of you have been looking down your noses at other people here at this church based on the way they operate, their family, their parenting, their kids, their money, their free time, and it needs to stop. Are you sure you're doing what you should be doing? Then do it with all you've got for the Lord, Jesus Christ. And if somebody else is doing it differently, even if they're weak, seek to love them, even if they're acting like they don't; you really care about something. And this person's over here acting like that doesn't matter. I'm still doing it for Jesus. Don't pass judgment on them. That's what this is saying here. Okay, so that's the context.
Go with me to Colossians 2:16. Colossians. 2:16 mentions these same kinds of things here in the book of Colossians. Paul has a real concern in chapter 2, particularly that people are making it about works. People are making it about what they do, rather than making it about the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is only by our faith in Jesus that we are saved. And so, therefore, whatever you do, do it in the name of the Lord. Do it to honor the Lord. But see, people, they can get into no but you’ve got to do it like this, or, I know you don't have to do it like this. You can do it however you want. And there's this whole thing that happens. So, look what he says in Colossians 2, verse 16, “Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.” Okay, so this is something that we have in Romans 14. We have it in 1 Corinthians 8.
Here we have a clear reference in Colossians 2. This is a real concern that Paul had for church people, that they would be judgy of one another. And he's trying to say, if other people are giving you a hard time because you're not doing the food or drink the way they're doing it, or you're not doing the days the way they're doing it, don't get caught up in all that stuff. Don't let their judgment lead you back into some kind of works-based thinking. Don't let anybody pass judgment on you about these things. You make sure that, in your heart, you're doing what you're doing for the Lord. So, he was concerned about this. And maybe there was a specific problem. And with the saints in Rome, I don't know. There was definitely a problem with the Corinthians. The Corinthians had a lot of problems. Here he is. He hasn't even been to Colossae, and he's writing this letter, and he brings it up. So, if Paul's looking at a church like this, here's what Paul is worried about right away. Here's something he thinks he needs to address in his teaching. Some of you are judging some of you and some of you are judging some of you because you're not doing what you're they're not doing what you're doing. And then some of you are judging, some of you because they're doing something. And you're doing this judging in your head, in your mind, maybe it's even coming out of your mouth. And who are you to pass judgment on somebody else?
Go back to Romans 14. Now let's go with that kind of context being understood. Let's get into now what does he have to say? What is his teaching here? Because he gives us an imperative in verse 1, which is to welcome him. Do you see somebody? Do you see this? This one who's even if they're weak in their faith, okay, the one who's weak in their faith. So maybe they're not thinking the same way that you're thinking about some of these things. Do you see that person? Welcome them? You could translate it, receive them. Okay, accept them. That's a command. The command here is not so much what to think about these issues. The command is how to think of the other people, the other people that Jesus has saved by His blood, and you need to welcome. You need to receive. In fact, the people at church are going to think differently about different things. One person is going to be over here eating anything. One person is going to eat only vegetables. And so, then, how are they going to think about each other when they're doing these different things? Are they going to despise? Are they going to pass judgment? And then look at what it says at the end of verse 3, I love this. “Let not the one who abstains,” the one who doesn't eat meat, “pass judgment on the one who eats.” They are eating meat. Why should you not pass judgment on the one who eats meat? For God has what, everybody? Welcomed him.
So, here's the big thought you need to leave here with tonight. Are you rejecting people at church that God is receiving at church? Are you judging people that God is forgiving? Are you separating yourself from people that God is bringing in you? You don't want to be finding yourself working against God in his saving work to draw sinners to his Son, Jesus. And so, if God has welcomed in people, who are you to act like they don't belong here? And it's very clear. Does God have a heart to seek and save the lost. Does this God run after the prodigal son who comes home? Does God get all the angels queued up to rejoice when one sinner repents? Is God, is Jesus a friend of sinners? Is Jesus having a meal with the tax collectors, with the prostitutes, with the criminals of his day? Yeah, but those people have been so judged by church people that some of them don't even think they can come into a place like this. And if Jesus is welcoming people, who were you to say, get off my lawn. Who are you to judge or question somebody that Jesus shed his holy precious blood for?
So, let's get it down like this for number one: “Receive the souls God has received.” Receive the souls God has received. When I meet someone at church, and I may not know if they're a believer or not, but my intent and your intent should be to extend to them the fellowship of the life of Jesus Christ. Sometimes we talk about giving them the right hand of fellowship, remembering that when Saul, the persecutor of the church, the murderer of Christians, when Saul came to church, what did that guy, Barnabas, do? That son of encouragement, he reached out and he brought Saul in. That's the idea of what people at church should not be known as judgy. People at church should be the most welcoming, friendly, like going up to strangers and loving them like a brother or a sister. That's how people at church are supposed to be. I heard it said about a lady, even today she never met a stranger. That sounds like a church person. You welcome people, you receive people. You don't have gates that they have to go through. You don't have hoops that they have to jump through. There's not something they have to prove to you. That's not how God welcomes people. If God welcomes people freely, by his grace, Jesus paid it all, and that sinner gets brought in, not based on anything that they have done. So, if God has welcomed them, how should you respond? Receive them? That's the idea you're commanded. Welcome them. Why? God has welcomed them. That's why.
So, this is something we really need to think about. I would go so far as to say, if you come to church and you don't ever talk to somebody you don't know that's not really church. Okay? Did everybody hear what I said? It's a shame. It's a crying shame that churches need to have a greeting team, because the very church people should be the greeting team. It shouldn't need to be organized, because everybody should be in on it. But people at church act like, why would I talk to a stranger? Because you were a stranger. In fact, you were worse than a stranger. You were an enemy, you were ungodly. You were a sinner, marked for condemnation, well deserved, and you get treated like a child. And now you want to just keep to yourself and ignore the other people around you. Welcome him, that person, that person looks different than me. I bet they think different than me. I bet we have different opinions. Exactly. Receive him, because that's what God has done. God's received him.
Go over to Romans 15:7. Look over. This is what we're going to get this again. So, if you're not liking how this is going now, I'm just warning you you're going to hear it again later. You better go to Long Beach if you don't like this, because we're going to get to 15 here, and maybe after Long Beach is gone, we'll get to 15. Look what it'll say in verse 7. “Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God.” So those are the book ends. Okay, from verses 1 to 3 all the way to 15:7. This is what you are being commanded to do. You are commanded to be a welcomer of the people that Jesus has welcomed into his church, into his family. And so, if you don't think you're a part of the greeting team, you need to repent. You don't need a name tag. You need to start greeting some other people here at this church. And there's many souls that needed to be greeted in Long Beach. We barely begun to scratch the surface of the souls here in North Orange County. Can I get an amen from anybody on this? Okay, we shouldn't have to provoke a greed. Time to get people to talk to each other at church. We should all be ready to welcome and then even as you get to know somebody, and you find out this person's a little bit different, I hear people say things like, that person's not my kind of person. You've ever heard somebody at church say that? That's a judgy church person saying that. Have you ever heard someone at Church call someone else random. Have you ever heard somebody say that I was talking to some random person in the vestibule? That person's not random. That person was formed in their mother's womb by the hand of our Creator. That person was perhaps drawn here on this very night so someone could share the gospel with them, and they could be saved. That person may very well be someone bought, redeemed, ransomed with the blood of Jesus himself, someone you will spend eternity with. Random? You judge a church person thinking that we are exactly who they think we are, and they don't think they're going to be welcomed. That's why they don't come. And you know what? They might be right. Are they right with you? Welcome him.
Go over to Philemon. I want to give you a couple of examples of what this looks like. And one of them is a couple of names under point number one, write this name, Philemon. Do you know where Philemon is? Be careful. You might miss it. It's one chapter long, the Book of Philemon. It's the last of the letters of Paul right before Hebrews. So, it's the thirteenth letter that Paul wrote, and he wrote it to this individual Philemon, who he calls our beloved fellow worker. Okay? And Paul identifies himself here. There's no chapters in Philemon. It's all one chapter, and he identifies himself there in verse 1 as a prisoner. So, here's the story of Philemon. Okay? Paul is in prison. There's a runaway slave named Onesimus, who he meets in prison. Paul helps this guy get saved by preaching the gospel. Turns out, Onesimus is the runaway slave of this brother in Christ, Philemon, that Paul happens to know. And so, Paul's now writing Philemon, who's apparently a very encouraging, great guy for fellowship. Like you hang out with Philemon, your soul gets refreshed. Well, now Paul's saying, I want you to welcome, I want you to receive, your runaway slave. And this runaway slave is really wrong to you. He might even owe you something. He might have done something wrong to you. I want you to receive him as you would receive me. That's what he says in verse 17. Look at how Paul puts it to Philemon about his runaway slave Onesimus. He says, so if you consider me your partner, hey, Philemon, if you and I are striving side by side for the gospel together, then “receive him as you would receive me.”
I’ve got to ask you a question. If the Apostle Paul was coming to church tonight, would you want to shake his hand? Would you think, oh, we’ve got a big one coming in here tonight. Everybody, have you seen him yet? The Apostle himself? He wrote my favorite book. Here he comes. I can't wait to get his autograph. See, everybody would be like Paul's in the house. Let's receive Paul. Paul's saying, no, your runaway slave, receive him like you would receive me. Welcome him. And then look at what he goes on to say. This was a “he says” in verse 18, if he has wronged, do it all or owes you anything, charge that to my account. So, this wasn't even an issue of preferences or opinions or different thoughts. This is where Onesimus may have really actually done something wrong with Philemon, but Paul's saying, charge it to me. “I, Paul write this with my own hand. I will repay it.” To say nothing here, this is what you call a flex right here, to say nothing of your owing me your own self. Hey, remember how you got saved when I was preaching to you, Philemon. Yes, Brother, I want some benefit from you and the Lord refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you knowing you'll do even more than I say. In fact, he says, Philemon, do you want to send Onesimus back? Because I could sure use his help. But maybe the reason I'm sending him back is so he can be with you. I don't know what you're going to do with him, Philemon, but receive him, welcome him.
And do you come to church on a Saturday night thinking, I wonder if there's some poor, lost soul that God's bringing in here tonight, and I want to welcome him. I wonder if there's some person who just moved into California, believe it or not, if somebody's still doing that, moved into California, or maybe they found out their church had swerved and their church wasn't preaching the Word. Maybe there are genuine brother or sister in Christ, and here they are wondering what's going to happen as I go to this new church. Oh, it feels like a big church. What's going on here at this church? And they're coming in here, are you thinking, I want to receive them, I want to welcome them? Somebody shows up at your fellowship group. Are you thinking, who's this random person coming in here? Oh, who am I going to have to talk to? Am I going to have to get to know another person? It's amazing how much church people act like I am maxed out on my possible human relationships at this current time. I know way too many people at this time. Please don't give me the chore of getting to know a new person, brother or sister. If that's what you're thinking, be careful. You might be becoming a judgy church person.
Romans 14 is not teaching you that, saying, yeah, look at that person. You know they're weak in their faith. You know there's work to do there. You know there's sanctification that needs to happen. You know they've got some personal opinions that they're taking very seriously that may not be based on Scripture at all. Receive him. Welcome him, because that person is one of God's people, and if God brings him to you, then you give him the right hand of fellowship. Philemon, your slave ran away. He got saved. I'm sending him back. Receive him. Welcome him.
Go over to Matthew 25. We're all servants of the Lord. That's what we're going to talk about next in verse 4, and Jesus, he brings that up right here in Matthew 25, in this this epic chapter of the judgment that is to come with a very, perhaps surprising criteria for which, with Jesus, will separate the sheep from the goats. He will separate his people from those who are not his people. And as Jesus is this final judgment, as described here in Matthew 25 verse 31, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne, and before him will be gathered all the nations. And He will separate people, one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, come you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” So here you hear Jesus is now telling people, come. The master is now welcoming servants to come, and these are the people that inherit the kingdom. Why verse 35, “For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you” what, everybody? You welcomed me.
Why should you keep loving people? Why should you always be ready to reach out and get to know somebody new? And I'm not saying that you'll always maybe you're already discipling people, and you can't disciple this person, but at least you could get to know them and pass them on to somebody else who could disciple them, rather than just ignoring them. Why should you do that? Because Jesus says, when you do it… I'll just finish reading the quote here, “You welcomed me.” Verse 35, verse 36 ,I” was naked and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when do we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? Or when do we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you? When do we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will answer them, truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me.” That verse often gets taken out of context. Who is Jesus talking about? He's talking about the brothers or sisters in Christ. He's talking about the people that have been received by God, the people that have been welcomed by God. They've been forgiven of their sins; they've been bought by the blood of the Lamb. They are now saved people. And when you welcome one of the saved people of Jesus, it's like you're welcoming Jesus himself. And that is one of the criteria that our master will use to judge us as his good and faithful servants or not. Did we receive and welcome those that he received and welcomed?
So, go back now to Romans 14, and look with me here at verse 4 as we conclude our introduction into this long thought that we're going to be developing here. Look at how he says it in verse 4, he asked this question, “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld for the Lord is able to make him stand.” This is a very helpful thought. This is a thought that you need to have in your head. I know for myself, being one of the brothers here at Compass HB, for the last 10 years, I have needed this thought on more than one occasion. There have been times at our church where I see somebody, I see how they're living. I see how they're conducting their household, how they're leading their family, and I wonder to myself, is that brother doing what he should be doing? Now, I don't know about any sin, but I just see some things. They aren't the way that I would be doing things. They're a different way of doing things. And before my mind starts going down me passing judgment on that person, the thing I want to be thinking in my head, well, that's between them and their master. I don't have a higher rank than any other brother in Christ. You don't have a higher rank than any other brother or sister in Christ. Some of us, who are at church longer, some of us who have leadership positions at church, some of us who think that we do more at church or we have time on other people, sometimes we start to think that we're somewhere up above these other people, and we therefore have some kind of permission to start looking down on them and looking at what they're doing and deciding if it's good or bad. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another master? See, if there's something going on with my brother that's between him and his master. If it's sin, I'm going to go try to restore and win my brother. But if it's just the way he's conducting himself and his family, look at what it says there in verse 4. Get this thought in your head, “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?” That person's not my servant. They're the Lord's servant. They’re in God's house. They're one of God's people. They belong to the household of God. Is God able to discipline his own kids? Yeah, he always does. Is God able to hold his own in his hand and to make sure that they never fall because he keeps them? Yes, he is so good. I love how this verse ends. The Lord Jesus, everybody that Jesus saves, he's going to raise them up on the last day. Everybody that's standing on the gospel, they're going to be standing till the very end. Everybody that has the foundation of the solid rock of Jesus Christ, when the wind blows and when the rain falls, when the storm comes, they will still be standing firm. Is the Lord able to make them stand? The answer to that is, yes, and they don't need you passing judgment on them. And so, this is when you start looking at that person, and you're like, I'm not sure about what's going on over there. Be careful that you don't start passing judgment on the servant of another. Notice how it said that in verse 3, hey, be careful about despising or passing judgment. And then in verse 4, it asks the question, “Who are you?” Who do you think you are to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he referring to this other one will be upheld for the Lord is able to make him stand.
Let's get this down for point number two: “Remember who we are serving.” Remember who we are serving. Remember whose church it is. Remember who's the boss, who calls the shots, who's the Curio, the Lord the master. Whose house is it? It's not my house. It's not your house. The church is the household of Jesus. He is the Christ. He is the Lord and Jesus, he can work that out in that brother or sister's life. So, you can try to encourage them. You can try to speak the truth, and love to them. If there's sin, yes, go seek to restore them, but make sure you don't pass judgment on them. Who, in fact, if you are passing judgment on them, who are you? Who are you to pass? Are you starting to think it's your house? See, that's the warning here. The Lord is able to make him stand. We are all fellow workers, fellow servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, we've all been saved by the same blood. Can I get an amen from anybody on that? We're all one. We're all in this together. We will rise together. We will fall together. We are the body of Jesus Christ, and I've got the same master that you've got, and I've got to make sure that I'm serving my master, and you've got to make sure that you're serving your master, but we don't need to act like we're each other's master, and so that's what it says here. That's that person's God’s servant, and maybe God's got them doing something that he wants them to do that's different than what God's got you doing. Don't overthink it. You do what God got you to do and trust that God's going to do that in them. In fact, pray that God will do his work in them. Instead of you thinking that you're going to judge what's happening, just give it up to the Lord. He knows what's going on in their heart, let’s pray that God will build them up, that God will keep them standing so many times. We need to stop thinking judgmental thoughts and turn those thoughts into prayers for our brothers and sisters. In fact, I would imagine that the primary reason that you pass judgment on other people is you have ceased to pray for those people, or you have stopped for a season praying for those people, and you're starting to get frustrated with them. You're starting to think, why are they like this? Why aren't they doing this? Why are they weak in their faith? Why aren't they growing? Why are they still thinking that? And here you are. Are you asking God to teach them? Are you asking God to revive them? Are you asking God to do it? Or do you just get frustrated that it's not happening, and so you start to pass judgment? No, the Lord is able to make them stand. In fact, if that's really your brother or sister, God is holding them, Jesus is holding them, and they will be upheld. And so, you don't need to pass judgment on them. Their master can take care of them. Their Master is able to take care of them.
Go over with me to Colossians 4:12, under point two, write this name, Epaphras. Philemon was point one. Epaphras is our example here in point two. And turn with me to Colossians chapter 4. We were just here last week. Pastor Bruce was preaching from Colossians 4 last week. Well, if you keep going down a little bit further, Epaphras, he was already mentioned earlier in in the book of Colossians as a fellow servant. That's how he was described, a faithful minister of Christ. So apparently Epaphras has been doing the work with this church, and then he's been telling Paul about it. And so, Paul then writes this letter, and here's what Paul wants to say to them about Epaphras in Colossians 4:12, he says, “Epaphras, who's one of you.” So, Epaphras comes from this church to Paul, tells Paul about the church. Paul writes them the letter, “Epaphras, who is one of you,” and what does he call Epaphras? A servant of Jesus Christ. This is a key way we all need to think about being Christians. To be a Christian is to be a servant, a slave, and Jesus is the master, the Lord. That is one of the primary ways that you and I are described in the Scriptures, is we are servants of a master. Jesus loved to speak that way. Paul is speaking that way. Paul's thinking he's giving out compliments when he's calling people servants of the Lord. That's what he says here about Epaphras. He's a servant of Christ Jesus. He greets you. Hey. Epaphras says, hi. Look what it says about him, “always struggling on your behalf in his prayers.” Why is he always praying for these Colossians “that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God, for I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.” So, this guy, look what it says about him. You might want to write this down next to Epaphras under point number two. Epaphras, what is he called? A servant. Okay, he understands who he's serving, Christ Jesus. He is struggling on your behalf in his prayers. He wants to make sure that they keep standing, that they don't stop standing on the solid rock of Jesus. He wants them to mature in their standing in Jesus. He wants them to be fully assured that they're living out the will of God, that they're obeying the commands of the Lord Jesus. He doesn't want them to be tossed to and fro like little children. He doesn't want them to fall away like so many do from the faith? No, he's struggling in his prayers for them that they would keep standing. I mean, maybe Epaphras is concerned about these people. Maybe he's like Paul, you need to write him a letter, because I'm not sure about it, but he's not passing judgment on them. He's struggling in prayer for them. That's the example.
I'm asking God to keep them standing, not thinking that if I think I'm better than them, and if they did it more like me, they'd keep standing. But I'm praying for them. See, this is the burden that we're all supposed to have for our one another. This is the passion that we're supposed to have, the sincere love that we're supposed to have for one another, the encouragement of the brothers and sisters in Christ. This is what the fellowship is all about, that I want to hang on to my brothers and sisters because I don't want them to fall away, and so I encourage them every day. That's Hebrews, chapter 3, verses 12 to 14, that when I sit there with my one another in a fellowship group, when I get together with that brother or sister in Christ, I want them to stand in the Lord Jesus. I want them to stand today. I want them to be standing with me on the last day. That is my passion for God's people. Do you have that passion? Are you praying for people, or do you just show up and see how people are doing? In fact, let's get real. A lot of people don't even show up and see how people are doing. A lot of people fellowship group is like the first thing to go on the calendar when life gets busy. The level of commitment that some people at this church have to fellowship is not a biblical level of commitment. Some people are just playing at fellowship. Epaphras. He's playing for keeps. He's in it with these people. He's Ride or Die for the Colossians. In fact, you can't even keep him bound to one city. No, he's over here in Laodicea. He's over here in Hierapolis. He cares about God's people. He's not judging them. He's not giving up on them. He's not discarding them or despising them. He's praying for them. Paul's like, yeah, man, I hang out with this Epaphras guy. He's been telling me about you guys. This guy's always praying for you, like his voice is cracking. His voice gets high. Sometimes it's almost like he's going to start crying when he's praying for you guys, like he's struggling. Yeah, it's been a long day, it's been a hard week, it's been a busy time, but if there's one place I'm going to be it's with the brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, because these are my people. I don't want them falling away. I want to be standing right there with them until the final day. I'm here to encourage one another all the more as I see the day approaching.
See, there's way too much judgment and not enough encouragement, way too much playing around and not enough praying. That's what we see here. Don't worry about you're concerned about this thing about their life or that thing about their life? No, trust me, the Lord is concerned about them standing in their faith on the final day, and the Lord is able to make them stand. Why don't you just ask God to keep them standing, rather than passing judgment on them? Go over to 1 Peter, chapter 5. Look at the very end of 1 Peter. Look how Peter writes it here. 1 Peter, chapter 5. He writes this whole letter, and these believers are suffering. They're scattered. Maybe some of you have studied 1 Peter. We've studied it here before, but I love his conclusion here at the end. This is in his final greetings in 1 Peter, chapter 5, verse 12, “By Sylvanus, a faithful brother, as I regard him, I have written briefly to you five chapters.” That's a brief letter, according to Peter. “Here I'm exhorting and declaring that” this all that he's been talking about, “the living hope that we have through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.” See that's his encouragement. He's not like passing judgment on whether they're going to stand or not. He's saying stand. He's writing, you separated from them, but he's writing to them. See, this is where all these letters come from, that I want to be with you. I wanted to come and see you. I wanted to be right there with you, but I couldn't be there. So, what did I do? I wrote you a whole letter to tell you exactly what I would have said if I could have been there, but I wasn't there. See, that doesn't usually happen when somebody misses a fellowship group you don't usually get, here are all my questions. Here's what I would have been saying to you guys if I was there and I'm so bummed that I can't make it that I wanted to share with you what I would have been saying if I was there. That's what Peter's doing. He's like, oh, I miss seeing you guys. We've all been scattered. We've all been spread out. So, I wrote you this. Why? Because what we're talking about is real. What we're talking about is the grace of God in the face of Jesus. Stand firm in it. And look what he says back just a couple of verses before, in his conclusion, back in chapter 5, verse 10, “after you have suffered a little while the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, he will himself…” Here's what God will do. “He will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you, to him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
The only way anyone has ever gone from being weak in faith to strong in faith is by the grace of our God, through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, working in his people. It's not because anybody here has been passing Jesus’ judgment on anyone else. Now, people, they grow up in their faith because God is able to restore, confirm, strengthen and establish them. And if that's what God's doing in you, stand firm. The Lord is able to make you stand. “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to bring you into his presence, blameless with unspeakable joy.” See, when I am concerned about that guy and what he's doing with his life and his household and his family and his money, you know what? He's not my servant, and I’m not his master. And so, I can pray for my brother, and I can bring him up to the Lord, and I can ask the Lord to strengthen him. I don't have to judge him. God is his keeper. God is his helper. God is 100% able to do it. But I want to pray for him, and I want to come alongside and encourage him, because I know that's what God's doing.
See, so this idea that we're all serving the Lord, if you come back next week, it's going to be, hey, why are you passing judgment on other people? Don't you realize you've got a master who's going to be looking at how you're doing, like what you're doing with your family and your household and your money and your time, you're over here wanting to police or think about what other people should be doing. How are you doing with all that God's given to you because you're a servant and he's your master, and so, because of that, let God work with that person, and then you just come and think about what you're doing to serve the Lord. So, Romans 14, we're going to keep going through this, but it's time for the judgy church people to repent of quarreling over opinions and stop passing judgment on one another. Let's pray right now.
Father in heaven, we really need to hear this. It seems like, from the Romans and the Corinthians and the Colossians, every church needs to hear this, that it's almost like Father, when we get to know the truth, and we get to know the things of Jesus Christ in the Gospel, and we get to know you through your holy Word, it's almost like, if we're not careful, that knowledge will puff us up. And because we've been able to know some things now we'll start looking at other people who maybe don't know those same things. It will start passing judgment on people or we'll be thinking we're doing something a really good way, and then we'll see somebody else not doing it, and we want to judge them. So, Father, I pray that we could hear your Word. I pray for everybody here, that we would all hear what your Word is saying. I pray that there's nobody in this room, nobody watching online right now, that wouldn't think, well, I'm not a judgy church person. God, I pray that we would all hear your Word, every single one of us, and that we would ask ourselves, if we're passing judgment on your people, if we're acting like we're better than somebody that you've welcomed in, somebody that you've received. Could it be possible, Father, that we'll be standing next to someone in heaven, that we wouldn't even say hi to here at church? Father, I pray that you will convict us, and I pray for the many people here who are praying for their brothers and sisters, who are reaching out to people and welcoming and receiving them, who are praying and for that, they'll stand firm. There are a lot of people at this church, a lot of your people. Father, they're serving you. They're not here to serve somebody else. They're serving you. They're serving Jesus. I can see it, Father, there are people here at this church, whatever they do, they do it for the Lord Jesus Christ. And I pray that they'll be encouraged. I pray that they'll keep going. I pray that they will know that you are Lord, are able to make us all stand, that when we feel weak, that's when your power is made perfect in our weakness, when we feel like we can't go on, that's when your grace is sufficient, that you are actually the God of all grace, who, after we have suffered a little while, you will restore and confirm and strengthen and establish every one of us to you be the glory forever and ever, amen. That every single one of us, every single one that you've saved, all the brothers in the room, all the sisters in the room, you are able to make us stand, and we will be there on that last day, on that final day. The Lord Jesus, he will keep us. He will raise us up. He's going to build our life from this day until that day, until we all get to say, hallelujah, praise the Lord. Praise my Master Jesus, because he has done the work to make me stand. So God, let us not judge others, but let us look to the Lord who is able to make all of us stand firm in our faith, and let us ask Jesus to build our life on the solid rock of his gospel. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen. Amen.